What is a Blinkee?

A blinkee (or blinky) is a lapel pin that lights up. Blinkees can light up in different colors and different ways. They can be many sizes, shapes or colors. Blinkees are so cool and versatile that they are one of the best options available to highlight your logo or theme.

It all starts with a full color design or even just an idea. For example, our customer “Jane” contacted us with the following request:

Re:the 20th year mayor’s ball.We need a 20 or 20th that changes color.We need 450 to 500 of them. Can i have an estimate?I’m in alaska.

So we got to work. The first step was to come up with some artwork for the blinkee. We double checked with the customer about fonts and colors and such and here is what we came up with to begin with:

Jane was pleased. Next we added lights:

Three LEDs; one blue, one green, one yellow. This fit our customer’s specifications to a tee. So we showed them what it would look like when produced. We provided a virtual sample:

Then the customer changed their mind. Okay, happy to oblige, we went back to the drawing board. They wanted to add the letters “MCB” to the design, change the color of the lights and change the overall shape of the blinky. So we gave her three versions to choose from. These two:

Then the one she chose and the new LED diagram:

Jane loved it and we got started on production. This was to be a military clutch pin clasp for this project. The other available clasp types are safety pin, magnet and even a spring clip clasp. We got started in late August and the production time was such that we were able to guarantee delivery in time for her event on October 4. We initiated production with our blinkee shop in China on August 27. Our blinkee shop provided us with this drawing that they use to set up the silkscreen for the printed circuit board (more on that here.)

Next our blinkee shop sent us a photo of a finished circuit board not yet coated with epoxy which we sent to Jane for approval:

Jane gave us the go ahead and we in turn told our blinkee shop to go into full production. Production was completed on September 24 and the blinkees were shipped to the customer. They arrived on September 30 and all was well. Jane’s event was a huge success and she has ordered several more blinkee pins from us over the years.

So back to the original question: What is a blinky? As you’ve seen, a blinky is an extremely customizable pin with lights. Jane’s pin used flashing lights, but we can also produce blinky pins with steady or slow changing lights. The slow changing lights make for some gorgeous lighting effects with beautiful mixing of colored lights.

Want to blink out your logo? Get started by completing the form below: